PAIN: Sore Spots review

The original PAIN was a moderately successful PSN release that simply lacked depth. Developers Idol Minds have now rectified that with the Sore Spots addition, but it appears to be a case of too little, too late.

It looks like PAIN, the downloadable PSN game, has gotten a lot of extra content added to it, not to mention an online mode.

The purpose of PAIN is to launch a character (via a catapult type device) into an environment to cause as much environmental destruction and pain to the hapless victim as possible, in an attempt to rack up points.

This is at least the main purpose. You will have single-player specific goals, such as hitting all the monkeys in a level within a certain amount of time.

But this is all old news as PAIN has been out for a while now. So this is more to look at what's new with this Sore Spots expansion.

For starters there are a lot of new levels to bring the pain, and they are all pretty interesting places filled with compelling characters wondering around, and lots of moving objects that you can attach yourself to or grab and throw around. There are also a lot of extra characters; some of which are from other PlayStation games, such as Buzz!, and Daxter from the Jak & Daxter franchise. These are nice little touches, and flinging them around a level and posing them so they can land on a pole with their crotch is pretty damn funny.

You will laugh while playing PAIN.. at first. After a while, it's really up to you whether or not it will remain interesting. I think some people will enjoy the puzzle-like nature, and try and get as many points as possible, where as others will quickly grow bored of the repetitiveness. Multiplayer will help add some interest and competitiveness to it all, which can now be done both on the same console or online.

PAIN still looks great for a PSN game, and the additional roster of characters found in the Sore Spots release helps to add depth to an ageing title.

The music is fun and charming, and listening to some of the characters reactions to being thrown around the world is pretty funny. The added content goes a long way at making the game feel like a much fuller package, however whether it's a better experience than what it was the first time around, I'm not so sure. Underneath it all, it's the same game, so if you enjoyed it in the first place but just wanted new places and characters to hurt, then maybe it's worth a look at the new stuff.

If you were never particularly interested in the basic mechanics of the game, then there is nothing new to see here.

6.5/ 10

“Repetitive.”

Ups
Fun concept, plenty of different and interesting ways to do things. Lots of quirky characters and levels. Some varied missions in the single-player and online multiplayer.

Downs
The fun is only temporary. The new variety of things added is mostly skin deep. Otherwise it's all pretty much the same. There are also some locked characters and level with no clear guidance on how to unlock them.